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5 best job categories for a new career in 2017

Product development specialists and plumbers both fall into CareerBuilder's predictions for the 5 top categories for new careers in 2017.
Product development specialists and plumbers both fall into CareerBuilder's predictions for the 5 top categories for new careers in 2017.
By Rose Kennedy
Dec 24, 2016

New year, new career aspirations? You'll get an automatic head start if you try one of the five best categories for a new career in 2017 established by CareerBuilder and Emsi, a labor market data provider.

RELATED: These metro Atlanta companies are making big hires this December

The two collaborated to compile a list of the best opportunities for job seekers in 2017. They based the ideal categories on these three factors: jobs that pay about $20 or more per hour; occupations that have grown faster than the market over the past four years; and job categories with a large number of workers already employed across the nation.

With those restrictions, here are their recommendations.

1.Business and financial operations

In-demand job title examples: operations manager, business process analyst, product development specialist, financial analyst, office manager
Average hourly earnings: $35.09

2.Information technology

In-demand job title examples: data scientist, user interface, front-end developer, product manager, mobile software engineer, information security manager
Average hourly earnings: $40.82
Atlanta example: Lead data scientist wanted at Cybercoders, $100K-$150K annually

3. Healthcare

In-demand job title examples: family practitioner, medical director, ICU nurse, cardiologist, physical therapist, rehabilitation nurse

Average hourly earnings: $37.77

4. Sales

In-demand job title examples: account executive, account manager, business development manager, client services coordinator
Average hourly earnings: $19.06

5.Skill trades

In-demand job title examples: electrician, plumber
Average hourly earnings: $21.38
Atlanta example: One of the CareerBuilder listings under "plumber" in Atlanta comes from American Residential Services and offers "six figure potential" at a company with $850 million in annual revenue.

To see the CareerBuilder/Emsi information about the 5 best job categories for a new career in 2017 as an infographic, click here.

About the Author

Rose Kennedy

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